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Transportation budget faces multibillion-dollar shortfall; staff outlines cuts, delays or revenue options
Summary
State transportation staff told the Senate Transportation Committee that a $1 billion shortfall in the upcoming biennium could grow to roughly $4 billion over six years, and presented options including operating cuts, capital delays and revenue increases.
Haley Gamble, the committee’s budget coordinator, told the Washington State Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 27, 2025, that the transportation budget faces a multi‑billion dollar gap and laid out options of reductions, delays or new revenue to close it.
Gamble said the governor’s budget included a $1,000,000,000 placeholder to balance the 2025–27 budget and that, without that placeholder, the accounts would be short by about $1 billion in the upcoming biennium and the shortfall would grow to roughly $2.6 billion in 2027–29 and nearly $4 billion over six years.
The shortfall reflects lower-than-expected transportation revenues and rising project costs. "Since the forecast that was used for the adopted budget, the gas tax has gone down by $332,000,000, so 9.7%," Gamble said. She also told the committee that the transportation budget lost about $2.5 billion in revenues since 2020 because of COVID‑era declines and that project cost increases have strained the financial plan.
Why it matters: the shortfall forces tradeoffs among the state’s…
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